


The Pain of Moving On

by BloodDrenchedRose



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-11
Updated: 2015-03-11
Packaged: 2018-03-17 08:06:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3521777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BloodDrenchedRose/pseuds/BloodDrenchedRose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Belle is honest to herself about why she's with Will.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Pain of Moving On

**Author's Note:**

> This is inspired by that pivotal ending scene of Episode 4x14. To those who have watched the episode, you know what I'm talking about. This fic is hinting at spoilers in the episode.
> 
> By the way, I wrote this while I was at work, jotting down words on the backs of forgotten receipts with each spare second I had. (I work in a grocery store.)

**“The Pain of Moving On”**

**BloodDrenchedRose**

                Sunlight pricked the back of her eyelids, and she registered the weight of the arm lying across her waist. Six weeks. It had been six weeks since she had banished Rumpelstiltskin from Storybrooke. Surely he couldn’t have—

                No. It wasn’t him.

                Everything came flooding back to her memory in a rush. The outings, the visits, the insistence of coffee every morning for the past couple of weeks… In a moment of wishing for the pain to end, she did the one thing she swore she would never do.

                She moved on.

                An irrational part of her reasoned that one day Rumpel would return. Belle would inwardly shake her head at that notion, making herself remember that the curse Ingrid had put on the town line would prevent anyone who crossed it from ever returning.

                And yet she missed him beyond belief.

                Most people would probably think ill of her if they thought too hard about the situation: a woman recently separated now in the arms of another man. _Had she really not loved Rumpel if she was able to move on so quickly?_

                If anyone ever asked her that to her face, she’d deny it in a heartbeat. Yes, she’s moving on. Yes, she loved Rumpel more than anyone—even the Nolans—could ever comprehend.

                This is just the only way she could think of to numb the pain. Everything else was too gory and over-the-top.

                _And cheating on your husband isn’t considered over-the-top?_

                The thought was accentuated by Will pulling her closer into his arms.

                Was it really considered cheating, though? The chances of Rumpel returning were slim to none. Nothing could change that unless magic was involved. There was an even slimmer chance of that happening since there’s no magic outside of Storybrooke.

                The rest of the town will soon come to realize the one thing she’s been denying for six weeks now.

                Rumpel was never coming back.

                Never.

**Author's Note:**

> To be honest, I understand where Belle is coming from--if this is truly what's been going on in her mind. There was a time two years ago when my then-boyfriend/now-fiancé had broken up with me and told me he didn't see us getting back together any time soon. I had calculated a 3% chance of us getting back together. I was devastated, and I wanted to find a way to forget him even though he's one of my closest friends...so I started talking to another guy and had made plans for a one-night stand one weekend two weeks into the break-up. Before that even happened, though, my fiancé realized he didn't want to lose me. And so he asked me back.
> 
> He told me he had often wondered if I truly loved him if I was able to move on so quickly. The truth is that I love him more than he'll ever know. I just wanted the pain to end. I wanted to know if there was happiness hidden somewhere, even if it's really the wrong hiding space for it to be in. I wanted *him*...but I couldn't. As I said, our chances of getting back together were slim.
> 
> So, yes. Even though I don't like where that one scene led the Rumbelle fandom, I actually understand why she did what she did. She's tired of the pain. Why not find happiness?


End file.
